3 startling takeaways from the New York Times' report on Jeffrey Epstein, DNA obsession

Jeffrey Epstein has had a long list of friends from high places, including the likes of Stephen Hawking, Bill Clinton and President Trump. But did Epstein leverage these connections? We explain.
Just the FAQs, USA TODAY

The disturbing fall of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender accused of sex trafficking young girls, took another turn Wednesday after the New York Times published a report of his desire "to seed the human race with his DNA."

The shocking report by the New York Times, based on interviews with more than a dozen of his acquaintances and public records, described how Epstein desired to curry favor with accomplished scientists "to pursue his interests in eugenics and other fringe fields like cryonics."

Epstein's lawyers did not respond the Times' requests for comments in the story.

Epstein wanted to impregnate women at his New Mexico ranch

According to the Times, Epstein began telling scientists and businessmen in the early 2000s about plans for his 33,000-square-foot compound in New Mexico.

Epstein had "ambitions to use his New Mexico ranch as a base where women would be inseminated with his sperm and would give birth to his babies." The Times cited two award-winning scientists and a financial adviser who said Epstein told them of his wish.

Epstein told multiple people of the desire and the anonymous scientists and adviser said they were present at dinners and gatherings during which Epstein detailed the plan.

Jaron Lanier, a pioneer in the field of virtual reality, told the Times that a NASA scientists, whose name he couldn't remember, described to him how Epstein said he wanted up to 20 women at a time impregnated at his New Mexico property.

Lanier also said he thought that Epstein used his lavish dinner parties "to screen candidates" to have his children.

Epstein wanted to freeze his head and penis

One area of genetic pseudoscience that particularly fascinated Epstein was cryonics.

Proponents of cryonics, an unproven field, believe that freezing body parts after death can allow humans to come back to life once they are unfrozen.

The Times, citing an unnamed "adherent of transhumanism," reported that Epstein told the person that he wanted his head and penis frozen.

Transhumanism is a broader field of thought concerning how the human race could improve with technologies like genetic engineering and artificial intelligence. It is often criticized as a modern kind of eugenics.

Epstein donated a total of $120,000 to the Worldwide Transhumanist Association, now named Humanity Plus, and its vice chairman, the Times reported.

Alan Dershowitz, a high-profile attorney who represented Epstein when he was accused of sex crimes in 2007, told the Times of a lunch during which Epstein "steered the conversation toward the question of how humans could be improved genetically."

To further his genetic goals, Epstein used his money and influence to be in the company of prominent scientists including Nobel prize winners.

According to the Times, famed physicist Stephen Hawking was among the high-profile scientists who attended at least one of Epstein's dinners or conferences:

They included the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Murray Gell-Mann, who discovered the quark; the theoretical physicist and best-selling author Stephen Hawking; the paleontologist and evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould; Oliver Sacks, the neurologist and best-selling author; George M. Church, a molecular engineer who has worked to identify genes that could be altered to create superior humans; and the M.I.T. theoretical physicist Frank Wilczek, a Nobel laureate.

Epstein's promised financial backing of the scientists' work drove some to turn a blind eye to his "half-baked scientific musings" and "sexual transgressions," the Times reported.

During a conference in the Virgin Islands, Epstein charted a submarine and gathered the scientists, including Hawking, aboard.

The 2006 St. Thomas conference was said to be on the topic of gravity, but one participant told the Times that Epstein instead "wanted to talk about perfecting the human genome" and "was fascinated with how certain traits were passed on, and how that could result in superior humans."

Harvard cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker told the Times that he was invited by colleagues to gatherings Epstein hosted. Pinker called Epstein an "intellectual impostor."

"He would abruptly change the subject, A.D.D.-style, dismiss an observation with an adolescent wisecrack," Pinker told the newspaper.

Literary agent John Brockman first introduced Epstein to many scientists in hopes that he could provide funding for their work. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page and Jeff Bezos were in attendance at one dinner, per the Times.

Epstein was also thanked for financial support in Nobel Prize-winning physicist Murray Gell-Mann's book “The Quark and the Jaguar."

This satellite image obtained from NOAA/RAMMB, shows Hurricane Dorian (R) as it passes Puerto Rico at 11:30 central time on August 29, 2019. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said the hurricane watch and tropical storm warning for the island had been lifted, and that "Dorian continues to move away from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands." Jose Romero, AFP/Getty Images

epaselect epa07800497 Malaysian children wave national flags during an Independence Day celebration rehearsal in Putrajaya, Malaysia, 29 August 2019. Malaysia gained its independence from British colonial rule in 1957, and will celebrate its Independence Day on 31 August. EPA-EFE/AHMAD YUSNI ORG XMIT: AY02 AHMAD YUSNI, EPA-EFE

People work on a wooden statue made to resemble US President Donald Trump in Slovenia, the home country of Trump's wife First Lady Melania Trump on August 28, 2019. The statue is nearly 8 meters tall and was been built on private land. It was designed by Slovenian artist Tomaz Schlegl. Jure Makovec, AFP/Getty Images

Migrants queue upon their arrival at the harbour of Malaga on August 29, 2019, after an inflatable boat carrying 132 migrants was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Jorge Guerrero, AFP/Getty Images